First ICHF Craft Event in 2 Years

 Hi Crafters

Well today I drove to Exeter to visit the ICHF Craft Event, my first craft show for 2 years. I did not need anything for my craft room but wanted to see if there were new products and ideas around.

First I noticed that paper crafting was greatly reduced, plenty to see and top up with if you needed it but nothing too new. Lots of kits for diamond pictures and glitter crafting, these seem to have taken off during lockdown, but no new machines, dies or innovative kits for paper crafting.

The hall was fairly quiet, but in all honesty it was 12.30 on Sunday (the last day of a 3 day show, we had past several coaches in the coach section of the car park and the first car park was full, but we were the first row of the second section so all in all it was a lovely way to really see the stalls.  

The fabric stalls were busy and i bought several batches.  The first stall I came to  “Fabrics Galore”  had just what I wanted, some fabric to embroider, they had  some beautiful linen mix with butterflies and flowers that will be perfect.  I also bought some Christmas fabric and a most unusual print that came in panels with large squares, enough squares to make the bunting they had on show was £9 and the print is so unusual I had to have some even with nothing particular in mind. 

Then I bought some fat quarters as another stall had a great choice at £1 each, I think this was from the Bombay Store, I have seen them before at the Bath & West ground for craft shows and found some great bargains with them.

The last batch of fabrics were wonderful Italian prints, and some extremely luxurious Devore fabric that was going for a song so I had 3 metres, some Italian Polyester/satin beautiful seascape square print that I can either make a throw or bag and the Italian cotton print which was such a gorgeous print and again i will use for bag or cushions not sure yet. The company with this lovely selection was Rosenberg & Son and they tell me they show every year at the Sherborne show. 

I found one of my favourite stalls “House of Zandra” they design and sell kits for felt animals etc, They had obviously been busy over lockdown and there were some lovey new kits showing. I bought a lobster and octopus and a turtle. I may not make them all.  Last time I went mad on their stall I gave some away for Christmas presents. You can buy from them on-line if you have a crafty friend you think would appreciate one for a gift, they are worth checking out. 

Here’s Monkey that I made last year I love him and he and my stuffed dog are the only animals allowed on the furniture.

As well as these main purchases I found some interesting stalls where I bought a trial purchase

William & Oliver Rabbit patterns from the Sewing Sanctuary they had some great patterns and laminated fabrics for bag making. So I thought I would try the pattern first and I have the company details if i get on well with it. 

The Wool Shop Leeds had some great samples of knitting. A lovely slipcover, a wrap and jumpers as well as  a kit for making slippers and if I remember correctly some small toys

I stocked up on red tape for my laminating workshop and had a great couple of hours looking at the fabulous quilting and embroideries that were on display. A big thank you to all the stall holders who did a great job bringing their goodies to the Exeter show, it must be a risk and I hope they all did really well.

I have no excuse to be bored this winter, and I have managed to get everything put away. So time for a cuppa and  sit down.

Back soon with more Crafty ideas

Dee

Using Your Laminator - A Workshop in the Making

 Hi crafters 

I was looking at YouTube and came across some videos on working with your laminator. I use mine a lot on many different projects with mat and glossy laminating sheets. I started to list the different uses and when I got to 10 I realised this would make a great workshop. 

The laminated sheets can be used to alter paper, card, tissue, which in turn can be used for various different projects.  

I have used them for covering journals, making pouches. Finishing boxes and making bags. The workshop would start with methods for using the various materials and how they work in the laminator, and then the laminated sheets could be used to make a couple of projects. 

There would be show and tell on projects made and how laminating can help you use up your scraps. There are so many great ideas out there. 

There will be the second workshop making Anna Griffin Style Easel cards.

Dates are being finalised and full information should be available soon.

I am excited to be going back to running workshops, its such a lovely way of sharing ideas and crafty tips with other crafters in a friendly get together. Half of any profit made from the day goes to the local Hospice (St Margarets). 

Back Soon 

Dee

Tidying up the Craft Room

 Hi Crafters

SInce lockdown I seem to have a thing about tidying my craft boxes. I have had every box out of the cupboard and emptied, tidied and reclassified everyone. As there are over 30 boxes from 5lt to 25lt thats an awful lot of tidying over the months. It now seems like a regular occurrence anytime I have spare time out comes another box. The great thing about that is you get to see some lovely items you have forgotten you had and you get inspired to try new things. I am not sure the craft stash goes down that much as i manage to fill the spaces made from the tidy ups, quite quickly, as the next inspiration has me ordering new dies or papers to use on the projects.

I have recently come across an old kit of Wine Buff papers. They were purchased as a CD and my printer was not up to the job at the time so I had to rely on someone else printing for me so never really used it to its potential. Having said that there were some great aspects to the kit and so I have popped them on Ebay as someone else may wish to try them. 

I also sorted out some Create & Craft card kits and put a job lot on Ebay as there are some great quality cards and card sheets that could be used for lots of different projects. One other item I found was a whole Anna Griffin card kit new in the box. Now I have a large box specifically storing Anna Griffin papers dies and embellishments but these were in another area completely so had been forgotten. As I have made up about 20 Anna Griffin cards either from a kit or from the very pretty easel die set I have from her range I decided to pop the kit on Ebay. It seems Anna Griffin is as popular today in the Uk as ever, even though you cannot buy her kits easily as she is seldom in the country. The Pulley Card Kit made 20 cards and sold within an hour. It is the quickest sale I have ever made on Ebay, and it got me thinking that maybe I could do a class making Anna Griffin style cards. 

As I am currently looking to book a couple of dates in the local hall I may make this one of the themes for  one of the days, and for the other I was going to do Gift wrapping. Gift boxes and bag ideas. Hopefully that will be Christmas sorted. 

Here are some of the Anna Griffin style cards finished today after sorting out the box. I had made all the toppers but had to cut all the easel bases. Now they are finished and can go in the card box for use or selling.

I am looking forward to getting back to doing classes again, and am working on structuring the time as well as possible to ensure that all levels of crafters are catered for, and everyone who attends gets to take home something they are pleased with and hopefully will make again on their own. 

Happy Crafting

Dee

 

Special Occasion - Pop Up Book Card

 Hi Crafters

Today I have a lovely project for you, recently made for a 50th Wedding Anniversary, and I love the design so much I also made another at my craft club on Monday. 

I saw it on YouTube, there are a few videos out there but I found it first on Sam Calcott video and will link the video below so you can follow the instructions.

It is essentially a 5 x 7 card that when opened, pops out with 6 pages of a book for you to add pictures and greetings. Ideal for a special birthday or event as you can either add photo's to give in the card or leave the pages blank with just the message in the centre, and the receiver can add their memories of the day to the other pages as a keepsake.

You will need:

1 base card 5 x 7”
3 pieces of A4 card
3 pieces of decorative papers 
1 piece of A4 Mira card or backing card and another sheet of decorative papers for the inside covers

You can add more plain papers to the inside of the inside pages embossed for effect and lovely to set off your pictures.

I have used The Paper Tree Romance papers for this card as the sentiments gave the message I wanted to add .

Here is another one made with Crafters Companion Sara Signature Garden Party papers.I also cut some of my scraps for the flowers. 

Here is the link to Sam’s YouTube video of the card 

https://youtu.be/SBZG90-IqLc

I hope you will have a go at this card but if you do not want to make it I will have one or 2 for sale in my Etsy shop 

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Tea Lovers Wallet - New Make

Tea Lovers Wallets 

 Hi Crafters 

Today I am showing one of my new makes. Tea Lovers Wallet. It was made for the craft fair at the end of August and it was one of the best sellers, along with the Tea Lovers Journal. I think once people knew what they were they sold as a great gift or treat. 

Simple to make yet pretty and practical the wallet holds 6 (or 12 if you want to double up in the sections), so ideal to take away for a weekend break or for work.

Thoughtful present for someone who enjoys Fruit teas.

The few I have left will be given to friends or sold o the Trade Stall at club.

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Another Example of Best Ever Box

 Hi Crafters

I thought I would show you the inside of another box I made using the same method as my last post. 

This box has not been lined and you can clearly see the finish on the box sides. The boxes actually go together without glue, but for a tighter finish and sturdier box the flap sides and end 1/2” on the sides can be glued down.

It fits together beautifully

Back soon with new projects

Dee

Best Box Ever

 Hi Crafters 

First quick make of Best Box Ever 

I have been making boxes for some  time but saw someone on YouTube recently making the extra edging for the inside of the box to give a very professional finish. It was only a glancing view and I did not see the item being made or remember who I was watching at the time. 

A couple of weeks past and I suddenly remembered the edging and decided to have a go at reproducing the technique for my own boxes, as I want to do a class on boxes for Christmas.

The largest you can make with 12 x 12 card is a 5” square box which is of good size 

I made it up and it came out very well however this was using a thin paper and so I am going to have to make one with heavier card stock to ensure the measurements work for the folds 

Take 2 pieces of card 12 x 12 and score all 4 sides @ 1/2”, 2” 31/2” using the top and bottom measurements on your scoreboard

Cut both ends as if making up a box in the normal way cutting small notches in tabs and sides 

Burnish all lines and make up as normal gluing down the extra fold onto the base of the box piece

This gives a lovely lined edge and professional finish

As my box was from light paper I then lines the lid and base by cover 2 pieces of card (cereal box) cut at 4 3/4” square and covering with the same paper 

I also lined a piece of card 4.5” square to cover the top 

To make the box requires 2 sheets of 12 x 12 matching papers. 

Whilst this box does not look very different on the outside, the inside has a very professional finish and construction can be completed without glueing in the first instance, so you could unfold the sides for storage and glue together later when you are going to use it.

Back soon with more craft musings 

Happy Crafting

Dee 

 

Craft Fair 2021

 

First Craft Show 2021

Hi Crafters

I am back to day to round off my posts about the Craft show I attended on Bank Holiday Monday.

This is the first time I have attended this fair and  you are only allowed to sell items you have made so gift boxes with scarfs and Trinket Boxes with brooches were out as the inside items were not Hand-Crafted. So I decided to try my Journals, Journal Kits and Tea Lovers Journals & Wallets plus Clips for decorating Journals and bags, Clipboards (something practical) and some gift bags and Trinket boxes.

The footfall was very  encouraging and  organisation for the day very good. There was a lovely selection o f stalls with knitted items, Beautiful quilted hangings, jewellery, Fabric boxes, and Ceramics to name a few. The venue is set up for a Family Fun Day which runs from 11am to 4pm and in the field is a very big Car Boot. There is some entertainment and games for the families, while the Craft show sits alongside this in the main hall.

Now for sales. 

The Tea Lovers Journal and wallets sold, the clipboards and Journal kits, and at the end I sold some decorated paperclips. Sadly I did not do well with my Journals, sold no gift bags or Trinket boxes, which surprised me. 

I learnt I am not the greatest saleswoman in the world and presentation is important so that buyers can see what you have and how the items are used. Pitch your items at the right price for your venue. Kite Journals look great as do Turkish map books but the majority of people do not know what they are.

So some good news and some bad. Overall it was a lovely day and I met like minded crafters and received good feedback for my items, which was very encouraging. I will be putting my Journals on Ebay and in my Etsy Store. I have donated some gift bags and Trinket boxes to a friend who sells anything and everything given to her for  a Cancer Charity and I will be sitting down and working on what items I make for the Christmas Fair.     

Back soon with new makes and ideas to share. Oh yes and more good news the craft group I joined a couple of years ago is starting back next week. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Gifts Made for the Craft Show

 Hi Crafters

I have run out of time and so am summing up the items I am selling at my first craft show this Bank Holiday.

To recap I have.3 section on my table. Bags and Trinket boxes, Albums and Journals and the last section is gifts.

The gifts include 

Clipboards and separate clips to buy if you wanted to make your own boards 

Tea Lovers Journals and wallets

And here is a picture of a selection of the Journal/Bag clips I made

Overall the table was a little full and but there was a good selection of items 

Back soon with a synopsis of the day.

Dee